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Relics (episode)
The Enterprise discovers a ship crashed on a Dyson Sphere for more than 75 years with a single survivor suspended in the transporter beam: Captain Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott. Summary Teaser The ''Enterprise'' picks up a distress call from the , a transport vessel that has been missing for 75 years. As the Enterprise drops out of warp to respond to the signal, the starship is rocked violently by a massive gravitational field. Although initial scans do not find the source of the field, they trace the field to its center and discover a massive spherical structure, 200 million kilometers in diameter (or two-thirds of the Earth's orbit around the Sun). The sphere's dimensions are consistent with those of the (until then) theoretical structure known as a Dyson Sphere. The sphere's size creates massive gravimetric interference that interferes with sensors, preventing the Enterprise from locating it before the ship had dropped out of warp. The Enterprise locates the Jenolan, having crashed on the surface of the sphere. Surprisingly, power readings are still emanating from the crashed ship and life support systems are still operating. Commander Riker, Lt. Commander La Forge and Lt. Worf beam aboard the Jenolan and find that, although some of the ship's systems are still functioning, there are no apparent signs of life. However, La Forge discovers that the transporters have been reconfigured in a strange manner – power has been drawn from the auxiliary systems (they were a regenerative power source) while the rematerialization subroutines have been intentionally disabled with the phase inducers being connected to the emitter array and that the pattern buffers have been locked in a diagnostic cycle. Furthermore, a pattern is still in the buffer and, amazingly, it has suffered almost no degradation. Riker wonders if someone could survive in the transporter buffer for 75 years and La Forge finds out by rematerializing the stored pattern. Captain Montgomery "Scotty" Scott materializes on the transporter pad. Act One After Scotty thanks La Forge for rematerializing him, he runs over to the transporter console and attempts to retrieve a second pattern, that of Ensign Matt Franklin but unfortunately, one of the phase inducers has failed and the transporters cannot compensate – Franklin's pattern degrades too much for him to be rematerialized. Riker offers his condolences and introduces Geordi and himself to Scotty. When Riker explains that they came from the starship Enterprise, Scotty reacts understandably and asks how long he was in the pattern buffers for. Worf interrupts the conversation and Riker introduces the security officer to Scotty. Realizing that there is a Klingon serving in Starfleet, Scotty learns that he has been in the buffer for an extremely long time. When asked why he used the transporters to place himself and Franklin in such a state, Scotty explains that although only he and Franklin survived the crash, there were too few supplies to survive long enough to be rescued. After transporting back to the Enterprise, La Forge escorts Scotty to sickbay while discussing some of the advances in technology over the past 75 years and the events leading to the Jenolan's crash. La Forge tells Scotty that he is very impressed with his use of the transporter to survive but Scotty acts modestly, due to the fact that he lost his friend. In sickbay, Scotty is diagnosed with only minor injuries. Captain Picard greets Scotty in sickbay and is surprised that he was on board the Jenolan, as the engineer wasn't listed in the crew manifest. However, Scotty explains that he was traveling aboard the Jenolan as a passenger to the Norpin colony on Norpin V. When Geordi is ordered to study the Dyson Sphere, Scotty is eager to help but Dr. Crusher advises him to rest. When Scotty is escorted to his quarters by Ensign Kane, he is awe-struck at the luxury that he is entitled to, compared with starships of his time period. Scotty, with much enthusiasm, reminisces to Kane about his years in Starfleet but Kane has little interest in Scotty's nostalgia and returns to duty, leaving Scotty alone, feeling much less enthusiastic and somewhat pensive about life in the 24th century. Act Two As La Forge and his team are working on their spectrographic analysis of the sphere, Scotty interrupts, insisting on offering Geordi his assistance. La Forge skeptically accepts Scotty's offer and the team begin their duties. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Data reports to Captain Picard that the sphere was built around a G-type star and that its interior surface provides an environment much like that of an M-Class planet but there are no apparent signs of inhabitants. Picard orders for probes to be launched to speed up the scans of the sphere. Back in engineering, Scotty finds further advances and changes in technology that in his era were dangerous. La Forge is quietly becoming irritated until Scotty offers advice on how to deal with Starfleet captains. When La Forge finally voices his frustration and tells Scotty that he is in the way, the older officer leaves engineering in a disgruntled state. Later, Scotty arrives in Ten Forward and orders a drink of Scotch whiskey. He is repulsed when he tastes the drink, realizing that it is not "real" Scotch. Data approaches and tells Scotty about the use of synthehol instead of alcohol and offers him a "real" alcoholic drink which Data cannot describe any better than being "green". The engineer's reaction to this drink is much more pleasant. Act Three In a slightly drunken state, Scotty arrives outside one of the holodecks and requests a simulation of the bridge on board the starship ''Enterprise'' ("No bloody A, B, C, OR D"), the ship he served on for the longest duration. Scotty fondly remembers his time aboard his former ship as Captain Picard walks in, after coming off duty. Scotty offers Picard a drink and the starship captain accepts. Just as Scotty is about to warn Picard of the drink's strength, the Enterprise-D captain downs a glassful, which he instantly recognizes as Aldebaran whiskey – Picard gave it to Guinan. The two captains talk about their previous service in Starfleet and Scotty reminisces about his duty aboard the Enterprise – the first ship which he served on board as chief engineer – while Picard recalls his first command on the . Scotty begins to feel gloomy and opines that he is in the way and obsolete in the 24th century. He then leaves the holodeck feeling dejected. The following day, Picard asks La Forge about recovering the logs of Jenolan but the engineer says that all efforts so far have yielded very little as the ship's computer core was heavily damaged when it crashed. Picard suggests having Scotty assist in trying to recover the ship's logs; La Forge agrees that Scotty would be of great help as he knows the Jenolan's systems better than anybody on the Enterprise and says that he'll send Lt. Bartel with Scotty over to the Jenolan. At this point the Captain asks that La Forge personally accompany Scotty back to the Jenolan to recover the ship's logs, hoping to make Scotty feel useful again. La Forge understands the captain's motive and gladly accepts Picard's request. As La Forge and Scotty transport over to the Jenolan, Data discovers a communications array in close proximity to the Enterprise's current location and the crew set a course for it. As the Enterprise arrives at the array, the crew discover a large hatch in the Dyson Sphere, which they presume is a front door. As they open hailing frequencies, the hatch opens and a series of powerful tractor beams pull the Enterprise inside the sphere, easily overpowering it. Act Four Due to the fact that the resonance frequency of the tractor beams used to pull the Enterprise inside is incompatible with the starship's power systems, the relays for the warp and impulse drive overload and are rendered inoperable. The Enterprise has now lost primary and auxiliary systems and the ship is soon released from the tractor beams. However, because the Enterprise is still moving under the inertia of being towed in, it is heading directly for the star at the center of the sphere. Back on board the Jenolan, Scotty is having trouble with recovering the ship's log, calling it "garbage". La Forge realizes that Scotty is referring to both himself and the ship and tries to console him by saying that the basics of technology haven't changed a great deal in 75 years, the transporters of the Jenolan are virtually identical to those of the Enterprise, subspace radio and sensors work on the same basic principles and that impulse engine design has changed little in two centuries – long before Scotty's time. La Forge adds that the Jenolan would probably still be in service had the vessel's structural damage not been so extensive. Scotty is dismissive and retorts that nobody would want something as old as the Jenolan (and again hints at himself as well) but La Forge disagrees, saying that age doesn't indicate the usefulness of something (and hints also at someone). Scotty feels much more welcome and a bond begins to form between him and La Forge. However, the moment breaks as Scotty moves back to the console he was working on. He asks La Forge to retrieve a dynamic mode converter from the Enterprise, a tool which may help to recover the Jenolan's log entries. La Forge suggests using something similar but his call to the Enterprise goes unanswered. Back on board the Enterprise, the ship is three minutes from being destroyed by the star. However, Commander Riker has managed to restore 30% power to the maneuvering thrusters, although they will still not be enough to save the ship from destruction. It is not until power is diverted from the auxiliary relay systems to the thrusters that the starship manages to achieve a stable orbit in the photosphere of the star. Picard demands to know why the Enterprise was towed in and orders a scan of the sphere's interior for lifeforms. When La Forge and Scotty fail to locate the Enterprise, they realize that the starship must be inside the sphere. Although it seems impossible to repair the Jenolan's flight capability, the two engineers still try restoring power to the ship's engines. On board the Enterprise, Data reports to Picard that the star is highly unstable, expelling matter and severe bursts of radiation. This explains why the inhabitants of the sphere abandoned it. The android postulates that the Enterprise may have unintentionally triggered an automated series of tractor beams which would guide a starship inside the sphere – this would explain why the Enterprise was pulled inside without anyone occupying the sphere. When the star emits a solar flare, the Enterprise raises her shields accordingly but the vessel's shields are only operating at 23%. To worsen matters, the solar flares are becoming larger and within three hours, the Enterprise's shields will no longer protect the starship. Act Five La Forge and Scotty work on repairing the Jenolan's engines by jury-rigging the ship's supply of deuterium. Eventually, they are successful as power is restored. When Scotty offers La Forge the command chair, La Forge is surprised as Scotty is the senior officer. However, Scotty tells La Forge that all he ever wanted to be was an engineer, and insists that Geordi take command of the Jenolan. La Forge finally accepts and Scotty moves to the engineering console. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is heavily damaged by the star's solar flares, but Riker reports that partial impulse power has been restored. Picard asks Worf if the ship's phasers could be used to cut a hole through the shell of the sphere, allowing the Enterprise to escape, although the sphere is composed of carbon-neutronium and phasers (or any other of the ship's weapons) would be completely ineffective. As the Jenolan slowly orbits the sphere, La Forge and Scotty trace the impulse ion trail from the Enterprise to the hatch that the starship was pulled into. The ion trail's momentum distribution around the hatch suggests that the Enterprise's impulse engines were at full reverse and that the starship was dragged into the sphere unwillingly. La Forge and Scotty realize that the hatches are access terminals (and not communications arrays), which are triggered by certain subspace frequencies, such as hailing frequencies. When the Jenolan opened hailing frequencies 75 years ago, the tractor beams locked on to the ship, severely damaging it and causing the vessel to crash on the surface of the sphere. Scotty suggests positioning the Jenolan far enough away from the hatch, then opening hailing frequencies so that the hatch will open but the tractor beams will miss the ship. As the hatch would begin to close, the Jenolan would enter a gap between the doors and use the vessel's shields to hold the doors open for the Enterprise to exit the sphere. La Forge dismisses the idea as suicidal, but Scotty pleads to him that the theory will work. Eventually, La Forge makes the decision to go ahead with Scotty's plan. The engineers wedge the Jenolan between the doors, the shields hold and La Forge manages to open a communications channel to the Enterprise. The starship receives the hail and sets a course for the hatch. The Jenolan suffers heavy damage while the craft is wedged in the hatch and La Forge tells Picard that the Enterprise will have to destroy the ship to escape. When the Enterprise is in transporter range of the Jenolan, Picard gives the order to beam La Forge and Scotty back on board and fire photon torpedoes, destroying the Jenolan. The doors continue to close but the Enterprise manages to exit the sphere. As La Forge and Scotty walk off the transporter pad, Scotty is cheerfully relieved to be returned to safety. Later, La Forge tells Scotty about the Enterprise's encounter with a newborn lifeform on stardate 44614.6. ( ) It is obvious that a strong bond has formed between the two engineers. Scotty was expecting La Forge to take him for a drink, but La Forge had different intentions. As they walk through the doors to Enterprise's shuttlebay, the senior staff is revealed, standing in front of a shuttlecraft, the Goddard. Picard offers Scotty the craft on "an extended loan" basis in thanks for sacrificing the Jenolan to save the Enterprise. Scotty says that he won't be going to the Norpin colony as he had first planned. The senior staff bids Scotty farewell. Scotty reveals his approval of the Enterprise-D and the starship's engineer. After shaking La Forge's hand, he departs the ship in his new shuttlecraft. Memorable Quotes "Could someone... survive in a transporter buffer for seventy-five years?" "I know a way to find out." : - Riker and La Forge "How are you feeling?" "I don't know. How am I feeling?" "Other than a few bumps and bruises, I'd say you feel fine for a man of 147." "I don't feel a day over a hundred and twenty." : - Picard, Scotty, and Dr. Crusher "We're in engineering – call me Scotty." : - Scotty, to a somewhat exasperated La Forge "Starship captains are like children. They want everything right now and they want it their way. The secret is to give them what they need, not what they want." : - '''Scotty', offering La Forge advice on handling Starfleet captains "I was drivin' starships when your GREAT-GRANDFATHER'' was still in diapers!" : - '''Scotty', to La Forge, after being told that he's in the way "Synthetic scotch, synthetic commanders..." : - Scotty, aloud to himself on synthehol and Data "... It is green." : - Data, attempting to describe Aldebaran whiskey "NCC-1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D." : - Scotty, frustrated with the computer for not immediately understanding his request to see the bridge of the Enterprise (NCC-1701) "... Here's to ya', lads..." : - Scotty, on the holodeck recreation of the empty bridge of the Enterprise (NCC-1701), raising a toast to his long-gone crewmates "Ah, it's like the first time you fall in love. You never love a woman quite like that again. To the ''Enterprise and the Stargazer – old girlfriends we'll never meet again." : - '''Scotty', discussing with Captain Picard the ships on which they first served as chief engineer and captain, respectively "There comes a time when a man can't fall in love again. He knows it's time to stop. I don't belong on your ship. I belong here. This was my home. This was where I had a purpose..." : - Scotty, to Picard on the recreated NCC-1701 bridge "Bunch of old, useless garbage..." : - Scotty, referring not only to the Jenolan's systems but to himself as well "Just 'cause something's old doesn't mean you throw it away." : - La Forge, referring not only to the Jenolan's systems but to Scotty as well "The tank can't handle that much pressure." "Where'd you get that idea?" "It's in the impulse specifications." "Regulation 42/15: 'Pressure Variances in IRC Tank Storage'?" "Right." "Forget it. I wrote it." : - La Forge and Scotty "It's always good to be a wee bit conservative on paper." : - Scotty, to La Forge, regarding IRC Tank Pressure Variances Regulation 42/15 "You know, if we can get these engines back on line, we could track them with their impulse ion trail." "Are you daft? The main drive assembly's shot, the inducers are melted, the power couplings are wrecked, we need a week just to get started! But! We don't have a week, so we've no sense crying about it. Come on, we'll see what we can do with your power converter." : - La Forge and Scotty "Never get drunk unless you're willing to pay for it – the next day." : - Scotty, just before beaming to the Jenolan "You're the chief engineer of a starship, Geordi! Enjoy it while you can...because when it's gone, it's gone." : - Scotty's final words of wisdom to La Forge before leaving the Enterprise-D Background Information * This episode was featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Viewers Choice Marathon, where it was ranked the fifth favorite episode based on voting from fans. * "Relics" makes many references to The Original Series, including the episodes , and , representing each of the three seasons of TOS, as well as and (since Scotty tells Picard he served on two different Enterprise''s). * It is interesting to note that Worf was sitting no more than five feet away from Scotty 101 years earlier, as discovered in . * Data's line about the Aldebaran whiskey – "''It is green" – is a reference to , in which Scotty had a similar line describing an alcoholic beverage while getting the Kelvan Tomar drunk. * The visual and sound effects of the USS Jenolan's transporter are directly taken from those of the Enterprise's transporter in The Original Series. * James Doohan is the fourth actor from The Original Series to reprise a role in The Next Generation. DeForest Kelley appeared in , Mark Lenard appeared in and , and Leonard Nimoy appeared in . During the first season of The Next Generation, Doohan had strong words about the series, believing it to be rehashing a number of episodes the classic series had done. It was not until his family made him sit down and watch The Next Generation did he finally appreciate the new series. * There is a major inconsistency between this episode and scenes in which were written and filmed after it but set before it. In Captain James T. Kirk was presumed dead on the 's maiden voyage. This takes placed before Scotty boarded the Jenolan to go the Norpin colony. However when Scotty is beamed back on board the Jenolan in he says "The ''Enterprise... I shoulda known. And I'll bet it was Jim Kirk himself who hauled the old girl out of mothballs to come looking for me''", suggesting that Kirk was still alive when Scotty was en route to the Norpin colony. Episode writer and Generations co-writer Ronald D. Moore has stated he included Scotty in Generations (after Nimoy declined to appear as Spock) out of affection for the character (and possibly even the actor as well), in full knowledge of and despite the inconsistency. :Fan explanations for this inconsistency have been varied. Some suggest being in a transporter buffer for so long could easily have a deleterious effect on Scotty's memory. Others argue that Scotty knew how many times Kirk had defied death before and may have been referring to that. It also could be theorized that Scotty goes back into the past at some point after the events depicted in Relics. In actuality, the TNG writers had no idea that Kirk's character was going to be killed off later on in a film partially set before this episode. * The theory behind the Dyson Sphere is a made by in 1959 although the actual sphere that Dyson theorized was not a solid object as what was postulated in the episode.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Sphere#Origin_of_concept * When Scotty first enters the holodeck, there is another red alert light visible behind him that was not present on the original bridge set. In terms of filming, the set designers removed the dedidcation plaque from the turbolift foyer to create the illusion of a different part of the bridge and to save money on building more of the set. * The scene of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|original Enterprise]] was made by "looping" footage of the empty bridge seen in , and bluescreening it behind Doohan. Because of this, only small parts of the set had to be built. Ironically, Doohan does not appear in the episode in which the shot is taken from. The shot of the original viewscreen (with no one sitting at the helm/navigation console) was recycled from . * As originally scripted, Scotty was to have interacted on the recreated bridge with his old shipmates, via clips from The Original Series. This was cut for budgetary reasons. (The "Relics" novelization does show Scotty interacting with the rest of his shipmates in a new setting and even Picard participates for a while when he comes to visit Scotty.) * Picard notes that a starship is present in the Fleet Museum. Given that the was decommissioned following , it is possible that the ship Picard was referring to is the Enterprise, although, there is no evidence to suggest one way or the other. * Note that La Forge and Scotty are beamed off of the USS Jenolan before it is destroyed, despite the fact that they did not drop the ship's shields to allow transport beforehand. The Star Trek TNG Companion mentions this error and that the error wasn't discovered by the staff until after the episode aired. * According to common belief there is an alleged continuity error when the computer responds to Scotty's holodeck request by saying "There have been five vessels with that name", which would disregard the existence of the [[Enterprise (NX-01)|NX-01 Enterprise]] or any other earlier vessel. However, the computer clearly speaks about Federation vessels named Enterprise and as the NX-01 was decommissioned before the founding of the Federation, there is no error. (In fact, in , the Enterprise-D holodeck does recreate the NX-01 bridge.) * No mention is made in this episode of the fact that Spock and possibly even Leonard McCoy are still alive. One could speculate that Scotty may have been interested to reconnect with them after 75 years. In the "Relics" novelization, Scotty does look up his old shipmates to see what happened to them. Beyond mentioning that death had come to a few, the novel does not specify on specific fates of the crew except for mentioning how Spock is an ambassador and that McCoy became an admiral. And while subsequent novels have shown that most of the original crew are still alive in the TNG era, with Kirk presumed dead at this point and no mention of Sulu beyond 2320 (as of this writing), the presumption that some are dead can be construed as possibly factual. * This story is followed up in three separate comic book stories: ** "Out of Time", in which Scott helps Morgan Bateson cope with being lost out of time, ** "Old Debts", in which Scott encounters Koloth before the events of , and ** "The Wake", in which Scott (and Spock) visit with McCoy on his deathbed. * It does appear a tad incongruous that, as she never interacted with him anywhere during the final episode, Deanna would kiss Scotty goodbye. However a scene with Deanna talking to Scotty in his quarters was shot, but deleted from the final episode. The scene does appear in the novelization, however. Media info * VHS edition ISBN 0792146220 * TNG Season 6 DVD, Disc 1, episode 4 * novelization Links and References Guest Stars * Lanei Chapman as Sariel Rager * Erick Weiss as Kane Special Guest Star *James Doohan as Scotty Co-Stars * Stacie Foster as Bartel * Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace (uncredited) * Michael Braveheart as Martinez (uncredited) * Ernie Mirich as a Waiter References 47; Aldebaran whiskey; Argelius II; articulation frame; auto-containment field; Brahms, Leah; Chief Engineer; class 4 probe; class M; Code 1-Alpha-Zero; computer; ; deuterium; diagnostic mode; diaper; dilithium; Dohlman; duotronic enhancers; dynamic mode converter; Federation science vessel; Fleet Museum; Dyson, Freeman; Dyson Sphere; Elaan; Elas; emitter array; ''Enterprise'', USS; EPS; Franklin, Matt; frequency; G-type star; ''Goddard''; Guinan; holodeck; impulse engine; impulse engine specifications; IRC storage tank; isolinear chip; ''Jenolan'', USS; Kirk, James T.; level 4 diagnostic; life support; matter stream; memory core; neutronium; Norpin colony; Norpin V; pattern buffer; phase inducer; phase 7 survey; phaser; plasma intercooler; Psi 2000; resonator array; rematerialization subroutine; Scotch whisky; short range scan; sickbay; solar flare; spectrographic analysis; ''Stargazer'', USS; subspace radio; ; synthehol; tractor beam; transport ship; transporter; warp field |next= }} Category:TNG episodes de:Besuch von der alten Enterprise es:Relics nl:Relics